


Come a Little Bit Closer

by genneel



Category: All Time Low, We Are the In Crowd
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, Multi, Sexuality, Touring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 10:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9603542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genneel/pseuds/genneel
Summary: "You don't even know her."





	1. Chapter 1

"You know that I don't like her."  
  
"You don't even _know_ her."  
  
Lisa Ruocco glared up at her boyfriend from her seat at their dining room table, pulling the wire-frame glasses that she seldom wore downwards in the overly dramatic manner that _rarely_ happened on TV shows. Alex sighed deeply, stirring the meatballs that he was cooking for the two of them to eat for dinner.  
  
For the past ten minutes, they'd been arguing over Alex's band's touring plans for the upcoming fall— a lineup that included We Are The In Crowd, the _one band_ that Lisa bitterly asked Alex to steer clear of. It wasn't like she was that far out of line with her request, either. Her boyfriend had broken up with her via text message - _and_ without an explanation - for the lead singer of a band who he was barely acquainted with at the time. Granted, it was now four years later, but Lisa still felt like she had a right to be angry. Alex had allowed Tay to break the two of them up before, and Lisa would be damned if she let history repeat itself.  
  
"I don't trust her," Lisa replied, bringing her knees up towards her chest and pushing her glasses back into position with the back of her hand.  
  
"Again, _you don't know her_ ," Alex repeated, and he was right. Lisa knew next to nothing about Tay, aside from the fact that she was the striking frontwoman of We Are The In Crowd. If Lisa was being honest, she hadn't even listened to their music, fearing that Tay would be too talented for her own good. Furthermore, Lisa didn't _want_ to know anything about Tay. She was afraid that she might potentially see the charming qualities in the girl that everyone else seemed to see, therefore invalidating her years of pent-up resentment. Lisa could also admit that her argument was weak, though. _I don't want you to tour with them because I'm still pissed about something that happened four years ago!_ wouldn't hold up well, so Lisa closed her eyes and pouted.  
  
"You're right," she accepted, defeated. "I'm being paranoid."  
  
Alex smiled at her, setting the spoon on the saucer that he'd placed on the stove, and he took one of Lisa's hands.  
  
"Thank you," he said, moving to tilt Lisa's chin and kiss her lips chastely. Lisa smiled.  
  
"When does the tour start?" she asked, feigning interest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The "Fads For Rad Dads" Tour kicked off in Washington, D.C._

The "Fads For Rad Dads" Tour kicked off in Washington, D.C. Lisa took that as a blessing, driving the relatively short hourlong commute from Towson to the venue to see Alex and the guys play. She was still bitter about We Are The In Crowd being on the lineup, which had expanded to also include The Maine and PVRIS. The idea of Alex spending a month and a half with his ex-girlfriend didn't sit well with Lisa, and she understood that that was problematic. If she couldn't trust Alex, was their relationship really built to last?  
  
Lisa pushed a strand of her wavy rose gold hair behind her right ear and turned briefly to glance at Alex, whose head was rested against the passenger window. She loved him. If she didn't, they would've been done for good the _first_ time they broke up in 2006. Funnily enough, Alex had dumped her for a musician then, too. The more Lisa thought about it, the more she came to realize that maybe she _wasn't_ overreacting when she asked her boyfriend not to tour with We Are The In Crowd. Most of their breakups had occurred when Alex found someone more interesting than her while he was on tour; his flings with Janelle, Danielle, Joanna, and Meg were just a few examples of how much Alex _sucked_ at keeping it in his pants when Lisa had to trust that he would. They'd been steady for a while, though. Lisa had to give him that. He didn't jump at the chance to sleep with Jenna when All Time Low toured with Tonight Alive, which left her pleasantly surprised. Maybe her jealousy was more outdated than anything. Maybe it was best that she give Alex the benefit of the doubt when it came to Tay.  
  
"What time is it?" Alex murmured, voice scratchy from sleep.  
  
"It's going on two," she replied. "We'll be at the venue in about ten minutes."  
  
Alex gave her a sleepy grin and covered the hand that rested on her thigh with his, giving it a squeeze and intertwining their fingers.  
  
"I'm excited to start this tour," he said, turning back to face the window as they got off the interstate.  
  
"I'm excited _for_ you," Lisa replied, and she meant it. Despite her qualms about Alex spending a considerable amount of time with Tay, Lisa really _was_ happy that he was so ecstatic.

* * *

Lisa always liked PVRIS. In addition to their music being good, Lynn had been sweet when they'd met in early February. Lisa, Alex, Lynn, and PVRIS's Alex had gone out for pizza after All Time Low played a few songs at one of Spotify's locations in England. Lynn was a lot like Lisa, surprisingly— goofy and happy-go-lucky. They got along well. Lisa was pleased to see that she and her band were just as talented live as they were on their records. The crowd was jubilant, and so was Lisa. She bounced on the balls of her feet in time to the music from her position side stage, where she watched them with Alex and Rian.  
  
"They're _good_ ," Lisa gushed for the hundredth time, making Rian smirk and Alex turn to face her.  
  
"I'm beginning to think that you might have a crush on Lynn," he joked, and Lisa took a sip from her water bottle that was filled with red wine. It wouldn't be the first time that she had a crush on a girl, not that anyone but Lisa and God himself knew that. It was one of the things that she never talked about, not that her friends and family wouldn't accept her if she _did_ come out as bisexual. She just never saw the point in doing so.  
  
"Shut up," she fake-scolded, elbowing him lightly as she twisted the cap back onto her bottle.  
  
" _Yeah, I think it's time to get out_ ," Lynn sang, signaling the end of _My House_ and their set. Lisa applauded, but she felt a twinge of worry and annoyance when she thought about the fact that We Are The In Crowd were next to play.  
  
"Do you want to go hang out with the rest of guys?" Lisa half-yelled into Alex's ear, hoping that he would sense her discomfort. Lisa had managed to avoid the band for the entire day, isolating herself every time she knew that she might see them. There was no hiding now, though. Lisa wanted to spend time with Alex, and judging from the crease in his forehead that formed when she asked if they could leave, he wanted to watch We Are The In Crowd perform.  
  
"Do you mind if we stay?" he asked. "I'm friends with the guys in the band, too, you know."  
  
Lisa rolled her eyes as We Are The In Crowd took the stage, but she smiled and nodded, taking Alex's hand instinctively.  
  
" _Here we go again. It's like you're calling all the shots before I shoot them_ ," Tay's voice rang out, and Lisa tried not to increase her grip on Alex's hand because _damn_. She _was_ good, and Lisa was feeling more insecure than ever. From beside her, Rian nudged Lisa's arm.  
  
"You good?" he mouthed. Rian had always been somewhat of a mediator. During the winter and summer that Alex dated Tay, Lisa and Rian had never stopped being close friends. Her friendship with _Jack_ even wavered, and the two of them had been friends since kindergarten. Rian was just... a constant. Lisa never had to worry about him lying to her or picking sides. Rian was a good guy, through and through. Cass was lucky to have him.  
  
"I'm fine," she mouthed back, taking her pinky finger and wrapping it around his.  
  
Lisa looked back to the stage. The lights weren't flashing, so it was easy for her to get a good look at Tay, who was wearing high-waisted, black shorts, a black crop top, and black boots; the tips of her hair were a light auburn color. Lisa was startled that her first impression of her physical appearance was that Tay was actually drop dead gorgeous; her level of insecurity increased exponentially at the thought.  
  
Lisa watched We Are The In Crowd's set all the way through, Alex and Rian leaving to join Jack and Zack towards the end of it to make last-minute preparations for their upcoming performance. Lisa was left side stage, unmoving and captivated by Tay and her band, who were actually pretty killer. She finished her bottle of wine as they exited the stage, turning to throw it into the nearly empty recycling bin next to the trash can. As she went to face the stage once more, her body collided with another.  
  
 _Tay._  
  
"Shit! I'm sorry," Lisa apologized, her green eyes meeting Tay's brown ones.  
  
"You're fine," Tay said, a slightly annoyed tone of voice undermining her reassuring words. To say that the moment was awkward would be an understatement. Lisa stood face-to-face with the woman who her boyfriend left her for four years ago, less than a foot separating them, and Tay bit her lower lip, looking around awkwardly.  
  
"I'm gonna..." Tay trailed off, pointing towards the rest of her band, who were all behind Lisa, giving each other handshakes and hugs.  
  
"Yeah," Lisa said quietly, stepping aside to let the brunette pass. She steadied herself by holding onto the trash can, wine sloshing around in her stomach as her head spun.  
  
What. The. _Fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"What's she like?"_

"I've got a question," Lisa asked Lynn later that night, seated next to the brunette on a couch in the back lounge of The Maine's tour bus. The Arizonan band had invited All Time Low, We Are the In Crowd, and PVRIS over for a small get-together that quickly turned into a typical tour rager - bottles popping from all directions and Zack non-discreetly smoking weed with Pat in the bathroom. She took a sip of her Corona and watched as Alex and John talked to Tay, the younger of the two men looking more interested in his red cup of alcohol than whatever Tay was saying. Lisa liked John. He was loud and unapologetic, but he was also one of the nicest people she'd ever met (a far cry from Rian's level of nice, but still _nice_ ).  
  
"Shoot," Lynn replied, typing away at her iPhone. She'd recently reconciled with her ex-girlfriend, Alexa. From what Lisa had gathered over the last eight hours, they were trying to be amicable with each other first in order to see if they were still romantically compatible, something that Alex and Lisa had strangely never done. They always just jumped back into their relationship head-first without really discussing _why_ they'd taken a break from each other and _how_ they could avoid it this time around. Lisa felt lucky that their tactic had been working for the past three years, but she couldn't help but wonder why their communication skills were so deficient.  
  
Lisa blinked and cracked her knuckles.  
  
"How did you meet Tay?" she asked with genuine curiosity. She assumed that their bands met during a tour, but she didn't know specifically how or when.  
  
"She's friends with Alexa," Lynn answered without looking up. _Oh._ "The three of us baked cookies together at her house one day when she and I were still dating. We've kept in contact since."  
  
"I always thought that you two met through music," Lisa wondered aloud.  
  
 _Maybe I shouldn't always jump to conclusions,_ she thought, watching the way Tay's facial features brightened as she laughed at something Alex said. Lisa furrowed her brows.  
  
"What's she like?" she pressed. Lynn perked up.  
  
"She's kind of an airhead," Lynn observed, "but not in a bad way. She just... spaces out a lot, I guess. She's smarter than people give her credit for."  
  
Lynn laughed.  
  
"She's goofy, too. She still calls me _Lyndsey_ , but it's endearing when it comes from her," she continued. "Very down-to-earth; I've never heard Tay say anything bad about anyone, 'cept for in her music sometimes, and, well..."  
  
"What?" Lisa pried gently, picking lint off of her plain black leggings.  
  
"She hated your boyfriend for a while, but that was understandable, y'know?" Lynn said, looking at Alex, who was now talking to John. "I'm not picking sides or anything, but he really hurt her when he went back to you."  
  
The way Lynn spoke made Lisa sound like a safety net, but maybe she was. Lisa took another gulp of her beer. She'd thought about it before - how Alex always seemed to fall back on her when he failed at a relationship with someone else. If Lisa was just familiar ground for Alex to walk on, then perhaps their relationship wasn't as solid as they believed it to be.  
  
"You should give her a chance," Lynn said, noting Lisa's inquisitive look in Tay's direction. "She really _is_ great.  
  
As Lisa brought her bottle towards her lips again, her gaze finally met Tay's. Lisa gave a small smile, which Tay returned before quickly diverting her attention towards her black boots.  
  
Maybe Lynn was right. Maybe their histories with Alex didn't have to define their feelings for each other.  
  
Lisa stood, stretching her limbs and downing the rest of her Corona before crossing the back lounge and stopping in front of Tay.  
  
" _Hey._ "


End file.
